Considered one of the nation's most comprehensive statewide principal development initiatives, the primary purpose of the Missouri Leadership Development System (MLDS) is to develop and support effective school leaders. R12CC employed a mixed-methods design for this evaluation by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to address…

More than sixty years after "Brown v. Board of Education," racial and economic segregation in American schools is deepening. At the same time, dynamic racial and economic change in cities and suburbs offers new opportunities for intentional school integration. School leaders are an integral part of those opportunities. We draw on the…

When it comes to equity and access through culturally proficient practices, what schools intend to do versus what they actually do can be incongruous by defaulting to traditional accountability metrics over change and innovation. Utilizing the Conceptual Framework for Culturally Proficient Practices, the purpose of this study was to investigate…

This study sought to determine whether there was a statistically significant correlation between school board behaviors and characteristics, and a superintendent's use of a transformational leadership model. The study was grounded in four research questions: Is there a statistically significant correlation between board behaviors and…

Maine Department of Education (MDOE) developed a Whole Student Approach (WSA) framework in summer 2022 to help MDOE offices, district leaders, and educators operationalize the main tenets of the WSA framework. This framework sought to support education leaders in aligning priority initiatives, policies, and resources in service of the WSA. Region…

This qualitative study investigates the skills, practices and dispositions that 18 experienced superintendents perceive as impactful to their longevity and success. In addition, superintendents were asked about what decisions, if any, they had made regarding the academic performance of students of color in their district. Superintendents described…

Perhaps no relationship is as crucial for practicing superintendents as the relationship with their school board presidents. This study examined which leadership traits of superintendents were most important according to superintendents and school board presidents in a rural state in the Midwest. A researcher-developed survey studied how important…

This mixed-methods study investigated support for Grades K-5 teachers' learning with Twitter. As more teachers turn to the Twitter microblogging service as an online space for professional development (PD), it is important to understand how and if teachers believe school administrators' support their use of Twitter for teacher PD. Key findings…

This dissertation study explores the lived experiences of Black women leaders of public school districts across the United States. Black women superintendents comprise roughly 2% of urban superintendencies in the United States, so understanding their journeys to and experiences in the position is critical to understanding ways that these systems…

The study's objective was to generate a composite description of the lived experience of women serving as rural Arizona public school district superintendents with special attention to ways this experience was impacted by the time in their tenures when they comprised a majority of local superintendents. Context includes 2020 data documenting a…

The purpose of this sequential exploratory mixed-method study was to discover the factors that lead to a school board hiring a non-traditional superintendent qualified through a Commission Qualification Letter over a superintendent qualified through a traditional Letter of Eligibility in Pennsylvania. The researcher used surveys and interviews to…

Several acts and movements have attempted to eliminate discrimination in employment opportunities. However, despite these acts and movements, there remains a disproportionate number of males in top leadership positions in public schools. Women who hold the position of superintendent in public school districts in Oklahoma from diverse backgrounds…

Research was limited when it came to the perceptions of rural district and school leaders regarding the recruitment and retention of teachers of color. Beginning in 2021 2022, Tennessee's Educator Diversity Policy, 5.700 outlined requirements for local education agencies to submit goals, plans, and strategies to promote the recruitment and…

Numerous accounts suggest that public school superintendents are burned out and frustrated by the accumulated stress of steering schools through the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and political polarization, and that they are increasingly at risk of mass attrition. However, despite high stress levels and similarly dire predictions…

The primary purpose of this research was to examine the mindset of an effective superintendent, which successfully motivates employees of the Millennial and Generation Z generations. The research methodology for this dissertation was a phenomenological qualitative study that interviewed three superintendents across the United States who subscribed…